Washington, D.C. - The ongoing sacrifice of the country's firefighters is underscored in the annual firefighter fatality report released by the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). According to the new report, 100 firefighters lost their lives while on-duty in the U.S. in 2002 - nearly a quarter of those while fighting wildland fires.

The report, produced by the U.S. Fire Administration, helps identify the cause and circumstances of each death, with a goal of finding ways to reduce firefighter fatalities in the future. Almost 2,500 firefighters have died on duty in the past two decades.

"The American fire service suffered another staggering year of loss in 2002," said U.S. Fire Administrator R. David Paulison. "More than 84 communities and 33 states suffered losses. We need to continue to work to reduce these deaths. Our goal is a 25 percent reduction within five years and a 50 percent reduction within 10 years."

According to the report:

• 23 firefighters died in wildland firefighting incidents, primarily in California and Colorado where the fire season was especially severe;
• Five firefighters from Oregon, traveling to fight a fire in Colorado, were killed when their van was involved in a crash;
• Six deaths occurred as a result of three wildland firefighting aircraft crashes;
• Two St. Louis firefighters died when they were trapped in a burning business;
• Three New Jersey firefighters were killed when a burning residential structure collapsed on them as they were searching for victims;
• 11 firefighters were killed during training exercises;
• Four firefighters died in separate incidents when they were struck by passing vehicles while working incidents on roadways;
• A fire chief in New Mexico was killed by a gunshot suffered while on the scene of a structure fire and six other firefighters were murdered in arson-caused or suspicious fires;
• 37 firefighters died on duty from heart attacks;
• Career firefighters constituted 34 of the deaths in 2002, with volunteer, seasonal and part-time firefighters comprising the remainder;
• 95 of the deaths were men and five were women.

The deaths in 2002 mark the fifth time in the past decade that firefighter fatalities reached or exceeded 100.

The 2002 report, previous years' reports, and the Firefighter Fatality Retrospective Study 1990-2000 can be found at http://www.usfa.fema.gov/inside-usfa/nfdc/pubs/ff_fat.shtm. Information on the annual memorial service for fallen firefighters can be found at http://www.firehero.org.